Reaching Hands
The AFSH is committed to reaching for new ideas, reaching for new knowledge breakthroughs, and reaching into the future of hand and upper extremity care. The key to our reach? Research!
Over the last three decades the AFSH has funded more than $2.6 million in research grants for more than 100 projects which in turn has yielded in excess of $20.5 million in funding for additional research. As we look to the future of hand surgery in the 21st century funding research in our own profession is one of the most significant ways we can affect the future generations of our profession. Research will always be at the core of the Foundation. In the past several years we have not only raised the standards for and the quality of our grants but thanks to the AFSH 25th Anniversary Campaign we have been able to commit to significantly larger grants. Reaching beyond where we have been in the past ensures that the impact of our efforts has greater clinical application.
One of our goals with the 25th Anniversary Campaign was to fund larger clinical grants beyond the traditional $20,000 clinical grants that the Foundation has awarded for many years. We are pleased to have funded the following grants as a result of this campaign:
Multi-Center Clinical Grant ($100,000 award from 2012) - The AFSH commemorated its 25th Anniversary by awarding a $100,000 grant for a well-designed prospective multi-center clinical research study. Kevin A. Hildebrand MD received a 2-year clinical research grant to conduct a study at two hospitals in Calgary for his project titled “Randomized Controlled Trial of Ketotifen to Prevent Post-traumatic Elbow Contractures.” (2012-2014)
Clinical Arthritis Grant ($100,000 award from 2013) - This competition was open to submissions on clinical topics including trials of treatment or rehabilitation diagnosis outcomes research and health services research. The main requirement was that the focus be a clinical question relating to arthritis in the hand or wrist. Jennifer F. Waljee MD MPH MSc was awarded this grant and will be conducting a study is titled “The Influence of Biologic Therapy on the Surgical Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Study.” (2013-2015)
Hand Surgeon-Scientist Award ($187500 award from 2013) - John C. Elfar MD was awarded a K08 grant from NIH to work on “Erythropoietin for Neuroregeneration.” Dr. Elfar was awarded a 2009 Basic Science Grant on this same subject and findings from that grant and others led to his successful K08 application. Read more about Dr. Elfar’s journey.
The AFSH Research “Reaching Hands” fund helps support the following grants:
Research monies also help to fund the following awards and programs:
- Joint AFSH/ACS Research Career Development Award – support researcher who has already received a K08 or K23 award
- Joint AFSH/PSF Hand Surgeon Scientist Award – supports a young faculty member at teaching institutions with accredited programs in plastic surgery who have demonstrated success in research by receiving extramural research funding - K08 or K23 award.
- Julian M. Bruner Award – recognizes the top scientific poster presented at the ASSH Annual Meeting
- Joseph H. Boyes Award – recognizes the top resident/fellow paper presentation at the Adrian E. Flatt Residents and Fellows Conference
- Andrew J. Weiland Medal – mid-career researcher dedicated to advancing patient care
- Goldner Pioneer Award – recognizes the highest scored research grant submission
- Gelberman Scholar Award – travel scholarship to allow for a young hand surgeon to visit a national or international center of excellence to learn operative and research techniques
- Ronald Linscheid & James Dobyns “Excellence in Wrist Surgery Award” – recognizes the best wrist research paper presented at the ASSH Annual meeting
- Young Investigator Scholarships – covers the cost to attend grant writing workshops
- Clinical Investigators Workshop – brings together clinicians involved in clinical research to discuss methodology issues and collaborate on works in progress.
- Basic Science Investigators Workshop – brings together researchers and investigators actively involved in basic research to exchange ideas address challenges and improve grant writing skills.